Russ & Daughters Café, New York – Of Lox and Love

Russ & Daughters is a New York institution so hyped up you almost expect it to let you down. Thankfully, it doesn’t.

The Orchard Street café, opened in 2014 to celebrate the centenary of the family business, is every inch the Lower East Side legend it promises to be.

Offering quality salmon, lox, herring, and caviar has maintained their legacy, while the finesse with which the plates are executed keep them top of belligerent NY restaurant lists.

The kitchen is clean and bright, showcasing the artful salmon slicers preparing the fish for the famous build-it-yourself bagel boards.

While the Platters and Noshes are a huge part of the Café’s reputation, don’t bypass the eggs. The Farm Egg Omelette and Eggs Benny could be amongst the best you’ll eat. Also, dishes reflecting the Jewish-Polish vein (Matzo Ball soup and Borscht) are zesty and wholesome.

The 1920s-style diner (booths and counter seats) is complemented by lab-coat donned staff. These guys are wonderfully easy-going; up for a chat while refilling coffee or making cocktails against a backdrop of teatime Jazz.

Like a bite of their bagels, Russ & Daughters’ is beautifully balanced. Finding a special harmony between nostalgia and modern day brunching, you feel (and hope) it’s going to be there for another hundred years.